The Bayesian Conspiracyhttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com
Thu, 17 Jan 2019 18:53:19 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=5.0.3http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/cropped-BC_Logo_book-32x32.pngThe Bayesian Conspiracyhttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com
3232A conversational podcast for the less hardcore rationalist, who wants to level-up their rational skills while having funThe Bayesian ConspiracyyesThe Bayesian Conspiracybayesianconspiracypodcast@gmail.combayesianconspiracypodcast@gmail.com (The Bayesian Conspiracy)The Bayesian Conspiracyhttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/wp-content/uploads/powerpress/TBC_Logo.pnghttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com
76 – Patreon and Censorshiphttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2019/01/76-patreon-and-censorship/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 16 Jan 2019 08:01:19 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=614http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2019/01/76-patreon-and-censorship/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2019/01/76-patreon-and-censorship/feed/1 David and Jess sit down with Eneasz and Steven to discuss the controversy of Patreon banning contributors from its platform. David mentioned the connection between Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein’s many, many accusations of raping young girls and soliciting the opportunity … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2019/01/76-patreon-and-censorship/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>

David and Jess sit down with Eneasz and Steven to discuss the controversy of Patreon banning contributors from its platform.

David mentioned the connection between Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein’s many, many accusations of raping young girls and soliciting the opportunity for others to do so. In Trump’s words: “I’ve known Jeff for fifteen years. Terrific guy. He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”

Big thanks to David for our intro music! Check out his music and VFX here!

We’d like to thank creators of our new outro music from the Sumerki Project! Check out their stuff here!

]]> David and Jess sit down with Eneasz and Steven to discuss the controversy of Patreon banning contributors from its platform. David mentioned the connection between Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein’s many, David and Jess sit down with Eneasz and Steven to discuss the controversy of Patreon banning contributors from its platform. David mentioned the connection between Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein’s many, many accusations of raping young girls and soliciting the opportunity … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes1:50:1175 – Culture Roots of Americahttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2019/01/75-culture-roots-of-america/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 02 Jan 2019 08:01:53 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=609http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2019/01/75-culture-roots-of-america/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2019/01/75-culture-roots-of-america/feed/1We discuss these two SSC posts: BOOK REVIEW: EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOPATHOLOGY BOOK REVIEW: ALBION’S SEED also mentioned: ALBION’S SEED, GENOTYPED, and the Dark Matter Conservative Universe is mentioned in I Can Tolerate Anything Except The Outgroup Sequence Posts for next … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2019/01/75-culture-roots-of-america/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>We discuss these two SSC posts:

Big thanks to David for our intro music! Check out his music and VFX here!

We’d like to thank creators of our new outro music from the Sumerki Project! Check out their stuff here!

]]>Eneasz, Jess, and Steven go down rabbit hole after rabbit hole while attempting to address some of our feedback backlog. Enjoy! Rationality from AI to Zombies: The Simple Truth (Audio Version) Stan Lee Cameo in Spiderman Game Massimo Pigliucci vs … Con...Eneasz, Jess, and Steven go down rabbit hole after rabbit hole while attempting to address some of our feedback backlog. Enjoy! Rationality from AI to Zombies: The Simple Truth (Audio Version) Stan Lee Cameo in Spiderman Game Massimo Pigliucci vs … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes1:56:3973 – Truth and Winninghttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/12/73-truth-and-winning/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 05 Dec 2018 08:03:29 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=601http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/12/73-truth-and-winning/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/12/73-truth-and-winning/feed/2The conspiracy worries about our post-truth government and looks at the question of why Rationalists aren’t at the top of everything they do. Articles/things discussed in this episode Link with analysis and discussion of the Jim Acosta incident Sailor … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/12/73-truth-and-winning/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>The conspiracy worries about our post-truth government and looks at the question of why Rationalists aren’t at the top of everything they do.

Big thanks to David for our intro music! Check out his music and VFX here!

We’d like to thank creators of our new outro music from the Sumerki Project! Check out their stuff here!

]]>The conspiracy worries about our post-truth government and looks at the question of why Rationalists aren’t at the top of everything they do. Articles/things discussed in this episode Link with analysis and discussion of the Jim Acosta incident Sailo...The conspiracy worries about our post-truth government and looks at the question of why Rationalists aren’t at the top of everything they do. Articles/things discussed in this episode Link with analysis and discussion of the Jim Acosta incident Sailor … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes1:42:1672 – Productivity Tools, Part 2http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/11/productivity-tools-part-2/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 21 Nov 2018 08:01:49 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=589http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/11/productivity-tools-part-2/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/11/productivity-tools-part-2/feed/1Jess returns to finish up the Productivity Tools dicussion. The Waking Up #MeToo episode The Very Bad Wizards episode with moral dilemmas porn-ified The Planet Money Halloween episode Death Note fan-made alternate ending (the website is pretty bad with popups) LeBron … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/11/productivity-tools-part-2/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>Jess returns to finish up the Productivity Tools dicussion.

Big thanks to David for our intro music! Check out his music and VFX here!

We’d like to thank creators of our new outro music from the Sumerki Project! Check out their stuff here!

]]>Jess returns to finish up the Productivity Tools dicussion. The Waking Up #MeToo episode The Very Bad Wizards episode with moral dilemmas porn-ified The Planet Money Halloween episode Death Note fan-made alternate ending (the website is pretty bad with...Jess returns to finish up the Productivity Tools dicussion. The Waking Up #MeToo episode The Very Bad Wizards episode with moral dilemmas porn-ified The Planet Money Halloween episode Death Note fan-made alternate ending (the website is pretty bad with popups) LeBron … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes1:54:2071 – Researching Qualia with Andrés Gómez Emilssonhttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/11/71-andres-from-the-qualia-research-institute/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Thu, 08 Nov 2018 15:48:54 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=582http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/11/71-andres-from-the-qualia-research-institute/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/11/71-andres-from-the-qualia-research-institute/feed/4Steven can’t read a calender, so accidentally scheduled this to release a day late. In this episode, we talk with Andrés Gómez Emilsson from the Qualia Research Institute. Buckle up for some dialogue on the intersection between philosophy and science. … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/11/71-andres-from-the-qualia-research-institute/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>Steven can’t read a calender, so accidentally scheduled this to release a day late.

In this episode, we talk with Andrés Gómez Emilsson from the Qualia Research Institute. Buckle up for some dialogue on the intersection between philosophy and science.

Steven was testing a new mic this episode, and thus sounds like he’s phoning it in from a submarine. Sorry for the trouble. He’ll keep searching for a better mic.

Here’s a fun presentation on QRI’s website that Andrés gave that covers some of the stuff we talked about in this episode.

Transcript of that dude taking on the math-illiterate execs at Verizon. Audio version.

Big thanks to David for our intro music! Check out his music and VFX here!

We’d like to thank creators of our new outro music from the Sumerki Project! Check out their stuff here!

]]>Steven can’t read a calender, so accidentally scheduled this to release a day late. In this episode, we talk with Andrés Gómez Emilsson from the Qualia Research Institute. Buckle up for some dialogue on the intersection between philosophy and science.Steven can’t read a calender, so accidentally scheduled this to release a day late. In this episode, we talk with Andrés Gómez Emilsson from the Qualia Research Institute. Buckle up for some dialogue on the intersection between philosophy and science. … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes1:45:5670 – Kick-offshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/10/70-kick-offs/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 24 Oct 2018 08:01:20 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=577http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/10/70-kick-offs/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/10/70-kick-offs/feed/2We kick off a couple things: The Sequences Reading/Discussion, and What Lies Dreaming The OG Sequences in chronological order we read: The Martial Art of Rationality ; Why Truth? And… ; …What’s a Bias Again? For next time: The Proper Use of Humility ; The Modesty … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/10/70-kick-offs/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>We kick off a couple things:The Sequences Reading/Discussion, andWhat Lies Dreaming

]]>We kick off a couple things: The Sequences Reading/Discussion, and What Lies Dreaming The OG Sequences in chronological order we read: The Martial Art of Rationality ; Why Truth? And… ; …What’s a Bias Again?We kick off a couple things: The Sequences Reading/Discussion, and What Lies Dreaming The OG Sequences in chronological order we read: The Martial Art of Rationality ; Why Truth? And… ; …What’s a Bias Again? For next time: The Proper Use of Humility ; The Modesty … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes2:05:1969 – Culture War 2.0http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/10/69-culture-war-2-0/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 10 Oct 2018 08:00:28 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=568http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/10/69-culture-war-2-0/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/10/69-culture-war-2-0/feed/1Alas, we had some technical difficulties in this episode too and we lost some small chunks of audio. I cropped it as best I could, but there’s some little bits where you can tell the audio skips a bit. Today’s … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/10/69-culture-war-2-0/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>

An awesome anonymous listener made this and sent it in after the episode aired! Thanks, awesome mystery person!

Alas, we had some technical difficulties in this episode too and we lost some small chunks of audio. I cropped it as best I could, but there’s some little bits where you can tell the audio skips a bit.

Big thanks to David for our intro music! Check out his music and VFX here!

We’d like to thank creators of our new outro music from the Sumerki Project! Check out their stuff here!

]]>Alas, we had some technical difficulties in this episode too and we lost some small chunks of audio. I cropped it as best I could, but there’s some little bits where you can tell the audio skips a bit. Today’s … Continue reading →Alas, we had some technical difficulties in this episode too and we lost some small chunks of audio. I cropped it as best I could, but there’s some little bits where you can tell the audio skips a bit. Today’s … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes2:04:1868 – Can’t Give Up Freemanhttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/09/68-cant-give-up-freeman/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 26 Sep 2018 08:01:24 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=564http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/09/68-cant-give-up-freeman/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/09/68-cant-give-up-freeman/feed/1Matt Freeman may be distant in body, but he is present in spirit Moridinamael’s A Dialogue on Rationalist Activism KatjaGrace’s Are ethical asymmetries from property rights? Yudkowsky’s Transhumanism as Simplified Humanism Very Bad Wizards ep 148 Am I Wrong? Moridinamael’s Spamming Micro-Intentions to … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/09/68-cant-give-up-freeman/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>Matt Freeman may be distant in body, but he is present in spirit

]]>Matt Freeman may be distant in body, but he is present in spirit Moridinamael’s A Dialogue on Rationalist Activism KatjaGrace’s Are ethical asymmetries from property rights? Yudkowsky’s Transhumanism as Simplified Humanism Very Bad Wizards ep 148 Am I ...Matt Freeman may be distant in body, but he is present in spirit Moridinamael’s A Dialogue on Rationalist Activism KatjaGrace’s Are ethical asymmetries from property rights? Yudkowsky’s Transhumanism as Simplified Humanism Very Bad Wizards ep 148 Am I Wrong? Moridinamael’s Spamming Micro-Intentions to … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes1:30:2267 – Freestyle Community Talk with Matt Freemanhttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/09/67-freestyle-community-talk-with-matt-freeman/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 12 Sep 2018 08:03:11 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=558http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/09/67-freestyle-community-talk-with-matt-freeman/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/09/67-freestyle-community-talk-with-matt-freeman/feed/1This episode has some audio quirks. We ended up having our recording software crash (but saved most of our audio) after about an hour and 15 minutes, so we have a tone shift at that point since we took a … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/09/67-freestyle-community-talk-with-matt-freeman/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>This episode has some audio quirks. We ended up having our recording software crash (but saved most of our audio) after about an hour and 15 minutes, so we have a tone shift at that point since we took a 20 minute break while we got our stuff back up and running.

Big thanks to David for our intro music! Check out his music and VFX here!

We’d like to thank creators of our new outro music from the Sumerki Project! Check out their stuff here!

]]>This episode has some audio quirks. We ended up having our recording software crash (but saved most of our audio) after about an hour and 15 minutes, so we have a tone shift at that point since we took a … Continue reading →This episode has some audio quirks. We ended up having our recording software crash (but saved most of our audio) after about an hour and 15 minutes, so we have a tone shift at that point since we took a … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes1:36:47The Sword of Goodhttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/08/the-sword-of-good/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 29 Aug 2018 08:01:40 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=555http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/08/the-sword-of-good/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/08/the-sword-of-good/feed/4A confluence of time-expensive events prevented us from recording an episode this week. However, since Shut Up And Do The Impossible: The Rational Fiction Online Anthology was just released, we’re podcasting a story from that anthology instead. This audio was … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/08/the-sword-of-good/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>A confluence of time-expensive events prevented us from recording an episode this week. However, since Shut Up And Do The Impossible: The Rational Fiction Online Anthology was just released, we’re podcasting a story from that anthology instead. This audio was first released at The Methods of Rationality podcast.

]]>A confluence of time-expensive events prevented us from recording an episode this week. However, since Shut Up And Do The Impossible: The Rational Fiction Online Anthology was just released, we’re podcasting a story from that anthology instead.A confluence of time-expensive events prevented us from recording an episode this week. However, since Shut Up And Do The Impossible: The Rational Fiction Online Anthology was just released, we’re podcasting a story from that anthology instead. This audio was … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes1:04:4366 – Feedback & Productivity (pt1)http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/08/66-feedback-productivity-pt1/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 15 Aug 2018 08:01:40 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=551http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/08/66-feedback-productivity-pt1/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/08/66-feedback-productivity-pt1/feed/3We finally get to some older listener feedback, then discuss productivity tools & systems. Also, Eneasz unveiled Shut Up And Do The Impossible: The Rational Fiction Online Anthology. Lizard hatching; Lizard chased by snakes Malcom Gladwell on the (non-)value of … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/08/66-feedback-productivity-pt1/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>We finally get to some older listener feedback, then discuss productivity tools & systems. Also, Eneasz unveiled Shut Up And Do The Impossible: The Rational Fiction Online Anthology.

]]>We finally get to some older listener feedback, then discuss productivity tools & systems. Also, Eneasz unveiled Shut Up And Do The Impossible: The Rational Fiction Online Anthology. Lizard hatching; Lizard chased by snakes Malcom Gladwell on the (non-...We finally get to some older listener feedback, then discuss productivity tools & systems. Also, Eneasz unveiled Shut Up And Do The Impossible: The Rational Fiction Online Anthology. Lizard hatching; Lizard chased by snakes Malcom Gladwell on the (non-)value of … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes1:53:2265 – Religion, and The Intelligent Social Webhttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/08/65-religion-and-the-intelligent-social-web/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 01 Aug 2018 08:01:28 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=544http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/08/65-religion-and-the-intelligent-social-web/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/08/65-religion-and-the-intelligent-social-web/feed/1Eneasz is still allergic to mysticism, but he really likes thinking of society as a super-being that guides humans and cares about their actions. Does this foresay doom for our host? A correction: Eneasz made a joke about Calvanists being … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/08/65-religion-and-the-intelligent-social-web/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>Eneasz is still allergic to mysticism, but he really likes thinking of society as a super-being that guides humans and cares about their actions. Does this foresay doom for our host?

A correction: Eneasz made a joke about Calvanists being Catholics, which is the opposite of the truth, they’re a sect of Protestantism. Oops!

]]>Eneasz is still allergic to mysticism, but he really likes thinking of society as a super-being that guides humans and cares about their actions. Does this foresay doom for our host? A correction: Eneasz made a joke about Calvanists being … Continue re...Eneasz is still allergic to mysticism, but he really likes thinking of society as a super-being that guides humans and cares about their actions. Does this foresay doom for our host? A correction: Eneasz made a joke about Calvanists being … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes1:34:1164 – Magick with David Youssefhttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/07/64-magick-with-david-youssef/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 18 Jul 2018 08:02:06 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=539http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/07/64-magick-with-david-youssef/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/07/64-magick-with-david-youssef/feed/5It’s only almost as crazy as it sounds. A bunch of links to help you get started on Magick! UltraCulture’s guide: The Complete Psychonaut Field Manual: A Cartoon Guide to Chaos Magick RUNE SOUP links: All things Sigils Sigils Reboot: How to … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/07/64-magick-with-david-youssef/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>It’s only almost as crazy as it sounds.

David’s email, if you want to get in touch for real estate purposes: dydavidyoussef@gmail.com

]]>It’s only almost as crazy as it sounds. A bunch of links to help you get started on Magick! UltraCulture’s guide: The Complete Psychonaut Field Manual: A Cartoon Guide to Chaos Magick RUNE SOUP links: All things Sigils Sigils Reboot: How to … Continue ...It’s only almost as crazy as it sounds. A bunch of links to help you get started on Magick! UltraCulture’s guide: The Complete Psychonaut Field Manual: A Cartoon Guide to Chaos Magick RUNE SOUP links: All things Sigils Sigils Reboot: How to … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes1:34:0663 – Rational Fictionhttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/07/63-rational-fiction/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 04 Jul 2018 08:01:51 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=536http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/07/63-rational-fiction/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/07/63-rational-fiction/feed/2Alexander Wales and DayStar Eld join us to discuss Rational Fiction Their Podcast – Rationally Writing Alexander Wales’s page DayStar Eld’s page Eneasz’s Fiction The Progenitor – Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality /r/rational on Reddit The Idiot Ball … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/07/63-rational-fiction/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>Alexander Wales and DayStar Eld join us to discuss Rational Fiction

Nothing happens solely because ‘the plot requires it’. If characters do (or don’t do) something, there must be a plausible reason.
Any factions are defined and driven into conflict by their beliefs and values, not just by being “good” or “evil”.
The characters solve problems through the intelligent application of their knowledge and resources.
The rules of the fictional world are sane and consistent.
In Rationalist Fiction:
As well as the above,
The main character uses (or tries to use) rationalist and scientific methods to demystify seemingly mysterious phenomena.
The story shows rationalist techniques, which can be applied by readers.
The story is like a puzzle; readers can reach the same solution as the characters by using the information provided earlier in the story.

Various definitions and opinions on Rational Fiction that Eneasz has clipped over the years:

nostlgabraist: [it’s] really more about elaborate mind games between self-interested characters with flairs for the dramatic

If there’s an aesthetic common denominator I can describe from all of these, or at least most of them, it’s something like: blunt and cynical (often with humorous intent) in tone, dark or at least not reluctant to get very dark at times, often includes extremely powerful or intelligent characters, sense of scale or “many orders of magnitude.”

EY re: swordart online

>What part of any of that was “rational”

I need to write a long diatribe on Tru Rationalfic at some point, but a very brief answer would be that a standard subtrope is looking at a fictional world and seeing another way of interpreting the characters’ observations as corresponding to different simple generators. In this case the hinge of the fic is that the people inside SAO have no way of knowing people are really dying and Kayaba has every reason not to kill them. Kayaba setting up his general rule for the final battle, rather than Kirito “miraculously” coming back, is a lesser such instance.

Obviously other authors do this as well and not under the label “rationalfic”, but it’s still something to present to people who are searching a rationalfic keyword, computationally or metaphorically.

More pragmatically, if you’d read a lot of rationalfic, you’d recognize this as being written in a particular tradition and not just because it’s me writing it. E.g. instead of there being a single point of departure, there’s a lot of little reinterpretations that are all in standard rationalfic directions. Asuna sees the answer sooner, Kayaba has additional motives, etc.

Alexander Wales: With Rule of Cool you’re basically saying to your audience “I don’t want you to think about this. Just accept that it’s awesome and move on.” Rational Fiction is about analysis and you’re inviting your audience in to look at things and question things. If you then include things that don’t make sense or they’re not explained or justified, and they’re just there because they’re cool, that breaks what you’re trying to do. (Rationally Writing Ep 5)

EagleJarl:

As to rational fiction per se, it’s simply a convenient label for a genre with specific characteristics, much like “romance”, “Western”, “hard SF”, etc are labels for specific genres.

A few key points:
Again, the term was invented as a shorthand for “well-written literature that has these specific characteristics.”
Characters in rational fiction should not be Vulcans. As has been pointed out elsewhere in the thread, factoring your emotions into your decisions is useful.
Anyone who is trying to write rationalist fiction is doing it deliberately, but people have been writing things that would fit the “rational writing” label for as long as pens have existed, much like people were writing science fiction before that specific term was invented. Again, “rational fiction” is just a category label.
…There’s no requirement that it be all about science or munckinry, although those things tend to come up because, let’s face it, science is the way that humanity has been winning over the animals for the last fifty millenia.

…Of course there’s a lot of debate about what falls into the category, but there’s debate about everything. Is Firefly science fiction, science fantasy, Western, romance…? (Answer: it has characteristics of all of those.)

OP lost: “fiction in which the narrative centers on the protagonist’s systematic, detailed, well-reasoned, and focused efforts to resolve a practical and immediate problem facing them, in such a manner that the reader can follow every step from their perspective”.

Zhade:
But that raises the question, wouldn’t mystery fiction be rational then? My gut-instinct is “No”, which is weird because mystery has all the hallmarks of my definition. Of course, gut instinct is a stupid reason by itself to exclude mystery from my rational definition, so checking in over at Wikipedia (if any of you lit majors have a better definition of mystery, I would be glad to hear it), the definition of the genre is: “Mystery fiction is a genre of fiction usually involving a mysterious death or a crime to be solved. In a closed circle of suspects, each suspect must have a credible motive and a reasonable opportunity for committing the crime. The central character must be a detective who eventually solves the mystery by logical deduction from facts fairly presented to the reader.”

And now I realized why I don’t consider mystery to be necessarily rational. The “Ah-Ha!” moment isn’t limited to just solving a crime or death. It can also be applied to discovering how to beat an enemy, accomplish a journey or just surviving whatever’s going on in the story at the moment. And if you say that the mystery label can be applied to those cases as well, then, what isn’t mystery?

And I think that’s an important point. There can be parts of a fic that is rational and parts that aren’t. And I think that you can apply that to a broader field. There can be both rational and irrational mystery fics, rational and irrational fantasy, rational and irrational sci-fi, etc.

DezoPenguin:
I would like to note that for as much as “Rational Fiction” can be annoying, there’s a hell of a lot more fiction out there in the world that appears to be just as didactic for an “Irrationalist” viewpoint. By which I mean the huge volume of works that imply that Science is Bad, that fill their “intellectual” characters roster with either Straw Vulcans or pathetic nerds, that insert ghosts or psychic powers or other New Age-y things into otherwise realistic settings (in, obviously, non-fantasy series), and in other ways attempt to comply with the stereotype that writers are art majors. And I find that as frustrating as hell, and a lot more so than “rationalist” fic because it’s a lot more ubiquitous and unlike rationalist stuff is very rarely clearly labeled as such. At least when I pick up a fic that trumpets “Rational!Protagonist” I know what I’m getting, just as if I but something out of the Inspirational section at a bookstore. Neither of which I generally do, because of the clear labeling, but the point is that it’s courteous.

InfernoVulpix:
On the rational writing podcast, when discussing the definition of rational fiction, the idea that it was ‘thinky’ fiction came up, that a common feature in rational stories is that they made you think about what was going on.
I think it’s slightly more general than that, and I’ll say that I think the (or, at least, a) core of rational fiction is that intelligence is a core virtue of the story. Battles will be won and lost primarily based on who had the better plan, who prepared more, who improvised the quickest, and so on. This would be in contrast to the ‘generic action show’ where Determination and Fighting For What You Believe In are core virtues that decide the outcome. In generic action show, whether the battle is won or lost depends almost entirely on whether the hero can get his second wind when things look down (often triggering some superpower to justify the success of said second wind, but it’s the same thing).
This explains quite a few things, such as why rational fics tend to have anticlimaxes more than usual. You specifically need a long, drawn-out fight to show off the raw willpower and determination of the protagonist at the climax, but in rational fiction you don’t specifically need that, since you can show off the cunning of the protagonist and the extent they planned and prepared or the quality of their improvisation in a single scene where the enemy was outsmarted and simply had no hope of victory. Of course, you can do drawn out fights this way too, but the key is that it’s not required. The focus on intelligence also helps explain the attention to detail and consistent rules, since your protagonist is supposed to live and die based on whether they can plan things out and grasp for advantages, and an inscrutable ‘as the plot demands’ ruleset is incompatible with that, whereas you don’t need the rules to behave the same way to force your protagonist to the brink of defeat before their show of determination and second wind.

]]>Alexander Wales and DayStar Eld join us to discuss Rational Fiction Their Podcast – Rationally Writing Alexander Wales’s page DayStar Eld’s page Eneasz’s Fiction The Progenitor – Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality /r/rational on Reddit The Idi...Alexander Wales and DayStar Eld join us to discuss Rational Fiction Their Podcast – Rationally Writing Alexander Wales’s page DayStar Eld’s page Eneasz’s Fiction The Progenitor – Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality /r/rational on Reddit The Idiot Ball … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes1:19:2362 – Stoic Chatter and RatChat!http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/06/62-stoic-chatter-and-ratchat/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 20 Jun 2018 08:00:29 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=524http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/06/62-stoic-chatter-and-ratchat/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/06/62-stoic-chatter-and-ratchat/feed/4This episode is a bit unusual in that our pre-recording mic check conversation sort of kept going into a conversation we felt was worth sharing. We redacted some of the personal identifiable info and names of actual people, so if … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/06/62-stoic-chatter-and-ratchat/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>This episode is a bit unusual in that our pre-recording mic check conversation sort of kept going into a conversation we felt was worth sharing. We redacted some of the personal identifiable info and names of actual people, so if the conversation earlier on sounds sort of disjointed, that’s because it is.

Steven also didn’t start moderating his freakishly fast speaking speed until a while into the episode. Sorry for those of you who listen to the show at a fast rate.

Big thanks to David for our intro music! I’ll add a link here for his stuff when I track it down.

We’d like to thank creators of our new outro music from the Sumerki Project! Check out their stuff here!

]]>We discuss schooling and education with Audrey. Robin Hanson argues that schooling is to domesticate humans. The Zvi is much more emotionally compelling in his Case Against Education and it’s follow-up (with more coming) Scott Alexander examines why DC...We discuss schooling and education with Audrey. Robin Hanson argues that schooling is to domesticate humans. The Zvi is much more emotionally compelling in his Case Against Education and it’s follow-up (with more coming) Scott Alexander examines why DC’s graduation … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes1:42:2758 – Inside Trump Country with Joshuahttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/04/58-inside-trump-country-with-joshua/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 25 Apr 2018 08:00:39 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=502http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/04/58-inside-trump-country-with-joshua/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/04/58-inside-trump-country-with-joshua/feed/5This one got off to an odd start since we were on a time crunch and Joshua as delayed in arriving. As a result, this one is way more disorganized than usual. We hope it’s fun nonetheless. Big thanks to … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/04/58-inside-trump-country-with-joshua/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>This one got off to an odd start since we were on a time crunch and Joshua as delayed in arriving. As a result, this one is way more disorganized than usual. We hope it’s fun nonetheless.

Big thanks to David for our intro music! I’ll add a link here for his stuff when I track it down.

We’d like to thank creators of our new outro music from the Sumerki Project! Check out their stuff here!

]]>This one got off to an odd start since we were on a time crunch and Joshua as delayed in arriving. As a result, this one is way more disorganized than usual. We hope it’s fun nonetheless. Big thanks to … Continue reading →This one got off to an odd start since we were on a time crunch and Joshua as delayed in arriving. As a result, this one is way more disorganized than usual. We hope it’s fun nonetheless. Big thanks to … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes1:43:0057 – Community Talk with Bayesed and Confusedhttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/04/community-talk-with-bayesed-and-confused/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 18 Apr 2018 08:00:04 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=496http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/04/community-talk-with-bayesed-and-confused/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/04/community-talk-with-bayesed-and-confused/feed/8Join Steven and David Youssef as they talk about the rationality community, how to win, and explore some possible reasons that Rationalists aren’t all total rock stars! Links: Tim Ferris’s The Four Hour Work Week The works of Naseem Taleb, … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/04/community-talk-with-bayesed-and-confused/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>Join Steven and David Youssef as they talk about the rationality community, how to win, and explore some possible reasons that Rationalists aren’t all total rock stars!

]]>Join Steven and David Youssef as they talk about the rationality community, how to win, and explore some possible reasons that Rationalists aren’t all total rock stars! Links: Tim Ferris’s The Four Hour Work Week The works of Naseem Taleb,Join Steven and David Youssef as they talk about the rationality community, how to win, and explore some possible reasons that Rationalists aren’t all total rock stars! Links: Tim Ferris’s The Four Hour Work Week The works of Naseem Taleb, … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes1:48:3856 – Adventures in Tough Subjectshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/03/56-everyone-is-wrong/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 28 Mar 2018 08:01:23 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=489http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/03/56-everyone-is-wrong/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/03/56-everyone-is-wrong/feed/23This episode got off to an interesting start. We usually test the mics with small talk and whatnot, but wound up just getting into interesting things and never quite got around to breaking to do an intro. I guess today we … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/03/56-everyone-is-wrong/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>This episode got off to an interesting start. We usually test the mics with small talk and whatnot, but wound up just getting into interesting things and never quite got around to breaking to do an intro. I guess today we talk about culture war stuff.
cw: cw

We mentioned Scott Alexander and his views on feminism and social justice. Those links are just some of his views. If you’ve ever read Slate Star Codex, you know his views tend to be nuanced and lengthy. I also strongly recommend this essay of his whenever you’re tempted to despise a member of the out group.

Toward the end we talked about Steven’s suspicion that some of the news coming from Left-seeming places was possibly coming from the same sort of misinformation factories that fuel nonsense coming from parts of the Right. This is the article that Vivian had that confirmed those suspicions.

]]>This episode got off to an interesting start. We usually test the mics with small talk and whatnot, but wound up just getting into interesting things and never quite got around to breaking to do an intro. I guess today we … Continue reading →This episode got off to an interesting start. We usually test the mics with small talk and whatnot, but wound up just getting into interesting things and never quite got around to breaking to do an intro. I guess today we … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes1:58:0555 – Keeping up with the Rationalistshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/03/55-adventures-in-difficult-subjects/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 14 Mar 2018 08:00:13 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=480http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/03/55-adventures-in-difficult-subjects/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/03/55-adventures-in-difficult-subjects/feed/1In this episode, we discuss 3 or 4 popular things currently (or recently) circulating Rationalist circles online. Yudkowsky on no fire alarms for AI. Zvi on the concept of Slack. Ben Hoffman “Sabbath Hard and Go Home“. A Lesswrong Crypto … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/03/55-adventures-in-difficult-subjects/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>In this episode, we discuss 3 or 4 popular things currently (or recently) circulating Rationalist circles online.

]]>In this episode, we discuss 3 or 4 popular things currently (or recently) circulating Rationalist circles online. Yudkowsky on no fire alarms for AI. Zvi on the concept of Slack. Ben Hoffman “Sabbath Hard and Go Home“.In this episode, we discuss 3 or 4 popular things currently (or recently) circulating Rationalist circles online. Yudkowsky on no fire alarms for AI. Zvi on the concept of Slack. Ben Hoffman “Sabbath Hard and Go Home“. A Lesswrong Crypto … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes1:40:3254 – Nothing Can Prepare You For Robin Hansonhttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/02/54-nothing-can-prepare-you-for-robin-hanson/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 28 Feb 2018 08:01:48 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=476http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/02/54-nothing-can-prepare-you-for-robin-hanson/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/02/54-nothing-can-prepare-you-for-robin-hanson/feed/4Robin Hanson returns to talk about his new book: The Elephant In The Brain Robin’s classic “X is not about Y” post. 2008! Man, time flies. Eneasz mentioned The North Pond Hermit. Relevant quote: “Solitude did increase my perception. But here’s … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/02/54-nothing-can-prepare-you-for-robin-hanson/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>Robin Hanson returns to talk about his new book: The Elephant In The Brain

Eneasz mentioned The North Pond Hermit. Relevant quote: “Solitude did increase my perception. But here’s the tricky thing—when I applied my increased perception to myself, I lost my identity. With no audience, no one to perform for, I was just there. There was no need to define myself; I became irrelevant. The moon was the minute hand, the seasons the hour hand. I didn’t even have a name. I never felt lonely. To put it romantically: I was completely free.”

]]>Robin Hanson returns to talk about his new book: The Elephant In The Brain Robin’s classic “X is not about Y” post. 2008! Man, time flies. Eneasz mentioned The North Pond Hermit. Relevant quote: “Solitude did increase my perception.Robin Hanson returns to talk about his new book: The Elephant In The Brain Robin’s classic “X is not about Y” post. 2008! Man, time flies. Eneasz mentioned The North Pond Hermit. Relevant quote: “Solitude did increase my perception. But here’s … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes1:47:1653 – Principles of Curiosity with Brian Dunninghttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/02/53-principles-of-curiosity-with-brian-dunning/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 14 Feb 2018 08:00:38 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=470http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/02/53-principles-of-curiosity-with-brian-dunning/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/02/53-principles-of-curiosity-with-brian-dunning/feed/2Brian Dunning of the Skeptoid podcast and Skeptoid Media Inc. returns to talk with us about his newest documentary, The Principles of Curiosity! (Website Link, Video Link) It presents a general introduction to the foundations of scientific skepticism and critical … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/02/53-principles-of-curiosity-with-brian-dunning/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>Brian Dunning of the Skeptoid podcast and Skeptoid Media Inc. returns to talk with us about his newest documentary, The Principles of Curiosity! (Website Link, Video Link)

It presents a general introduction to the foundations of scientific skepticism and critical thinking, focusing on a simple process they call the three Cs: Challenge, Consider, and Conclude.

It’s the spiritual successor to his 2011 intro to critical thinking documentary, Here Be Dragons.

Coming in 2018, Skeptoid Media’s new feature documentary: Science Friction! In their own words:

“Finally, a documentary about scientists who get misrepresented by the media.Those TV documentaries you see, and the science experts they feature? Did you know that producers often edit them out of context, and twist their words, to make it seem like they promoted some pop sensationalism instead of the real facts?

Science Friction is going to expose these faux documentaries by name, and will give the scientists a chance to clear the record. The film is intended for theatrical release. The networks are not going to like us very much, so we are crowdfunding the production.”

This project is still receiving funding and the more money they receive for funding, the better this film will be. Seriously, consider clicking the link above and throw them a few bucks to help bring this documentary to the public and have it pack as much of a punch as possible.

]]>Brian Dunning of the Skeptoid podcast and Skeptoid Media Inc. returns to talk with us about his newest documentary, The Principles of Curiosity! (Website Link, Video Link) It presents a general introduction to the foundations of scientific skepticism a...Brian Dunning of the Skeptoid podcast and Skeptoid Media Inc. returns to talk with us about his newest documentary, The Principles of Curiosity! (Website Link, Video Link) It presents a general introduction to the foundations of scientific skepticism and critical … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes1:12:3452 – Marriage is Obsolete Technologyhttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/01/52-marriage-is-obsolete-technology/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 31 Jan 2018 08:01:44 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=464http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/01/52-marriage-is-obsolete-technology/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/01/52-marriage-is-obsolete-technology/feed/3A discussions as to whether marriage is outdated and net-harmful. In large part based on Eneasz’s blog post. Naveen recommends this discussion between 3Blue1Brown and Ben Eater on Net Neutrality See also Naveen’s current project – Standard Meta Next episode: The … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/01/52-marriage-is-obsolete-technology/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>A discussions as to whether marriage is outdated and net-harmful.

]]>A discussions as to whether marriage is outdated and net-harmful. In large part based on Eneasz’s blog post. Naveen recommends this discussion between 3Blue1Brown and Ben Eater on Net Neutrality See also Naveen’s current project – Standard Meta Next ep...A discussions as to whether marriage is outdated and net-harmful. In large part based on Eneasz’s blog post. Naveen recommends this discussion between 3Blue1Brown and Ben Eater on Net Neutrality See also Naveen’s current project – Standard Meta Next episode: The … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes2:06:3451 – Robert McIntyre Returnshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/01/51-robert-mcintyre-returns/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 17 Jan 2018 08:00:23 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=458http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/01/51-robert-mcintyre-returns/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/01/51-robert-mcintyre-returns/feed/1Robert McIntyre talks about the future of aldehyde-stabilized cryopreservation I’m sure you’re all stoked about the sound on this one. All we can say is that we took steps to correct it (like we all recorded our audio independently, including … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/01/51-robert-mcintyre-returns/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>Robert McIntyre talks about the future of aldehyde-stabilized cryopreservation

I’m sure you’re all stoked about the sound on this one. All we can say is that we took steps to correct it (like we all recorded our audio independently, including having Robert send his own recording to us) and somehow the heavens conspired to make this sound harsher than the first. Sorry for the ear damage.

]]>Robert McIntyre talks about the future of aldehyde-stabilized cryopreservation I’m sure you’re all stoked about the sound on this one. All we can say is that we took steps to correct it (like we all recorded our audio independently,Robert McIntyre talks about the future of aldehyde-stabilized cryopreservation I’m sure you’re all stoked about the sound on this one. All we can say is that we took steps to correct it (like we all recorded our audio independently, including … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes1:03:23Holidayhttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/01/holiday/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 03 Jan 2018 08:01:12 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=453http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/01/holiday/#respondhttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2018/01/holiday/feed/0Happy Holidays! Nothing this new this week, but here’s some Star Wars 🙂 The Methods of Rationality main pageHappy Holidays! Nothing this new this week, but here’s some Star Wars

]]>Happy Holidays! Nothing this new this week, but here’s some Star Wars 🙂 The Methods of Rationality main pageHappy Holidays! Nothing this new this week, but here’s some Star Wars 🙂 The Methods of Rationality main pageThe Bayesian Conspiracyyes29:0150 – Approaching Rationality with Kyle Moorehttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/12/50-approaching-rationality-with-kyle-moore/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 20 Dec 2017 08:00:34 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=444http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/12/50-approaching-rationality-with-kyle-moore/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/12/50-approaching-rationality-with-kyle-moore/feed/5In this episode we have our sound engineer Kyle Moore on the show. I thought it would be fun to talk with someone who sort of has to listen to the show and get their take on it. The conversation … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/12/50-approaching-rationality-with-kyle-moore/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>In this episode we have our sound engineer Kyle Moore on the show. I thought it would be fun to talk with someone who sort of has to listen to the show and get their take on it. The conversation was, in my opinion, very fun and engaging. I also edited this episode since Kyle has been busy with his day job. – Steven

” “is normative ethics boring and/or completely disconnected from any actual moral reasoning you do in your everyday life?” If your answer is “yes”, you are not a Ravenclaw primary. If your answer is “no”, welcome to Team Ravenclaw. ” – from Ozy’s blog, Thing of Things.

This FCC report (pdf) that says as of Dec 31 2106, 94% of the US population had access to 3+ providers in their area that provide speeds of 10Mbps download, and 76% had access to at least 2 providers of 25Mbps download.

According to the graph on this page, as of June 30 2015, only about 20% of people in the United States had access to at least two ISPs who provide speeds up to 25 Mbps of download speed. About 89% had access to 2+ providers at 10 Mbps.

Either there’s been a lot of ISP expansion in the past two years, or the FCC has changed how they measure access.

]]>In this episode we have our sound engineer Kyle Moore on the show. I thought it would be fun to talk with someone who sort of has to listen to the show and get their take on it. The conversation … Continue reading →In this episode we have our sound engineer Kyle Moore on the show. I thought it would be fun to talk with someone who sort of has to listen to the show and get their take on it. The conversation … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes1:53:5749 – Spirituality via Drugshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/12/49-spirituality-via-drugs/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 06 Dec 2017 08:01:22 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=440http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/12/49-spirituality-via-drugs/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/12/49-spirituality-via-drugs/feed/2Make me one with everything. We went a little off-format for this one. Peter Singer – All Animals Are Equal (pdf) Scott Alexander tries to do a study, but it’s unethical… Eliezer Yudkowsky on Joy In The Merely Real Richard … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/12/49-spirituality-via-drugs/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>Make me one with everything.

]]>Make me one with everything. We went a little off-format for this one. Peter Singer – All Animals Are Equal (pdf) Scott Alexander tries to do a study, but it’s unethical… Eliezer Yudkowsky on Joy In The Merely Real Richard … Continue reading →Make me one with everything. We went a little off-format for this one. Peter Singer – All Animals Are Equal (pdf) Scott Alexander tries to do a study, but it’s unethical… Eliezer Yudkowsky on Joy In The Merely Real Richard … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes1:32:5348 – Cryonics 2 – Lacuna Matata (with Robert McIntyre)http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/11/48-cryonics-2-lacuna-matata-with-robert-mcintyre/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 22 Nov 2017 08:00:48 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=434http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/11/48-cryonics-2-lacuna-matata-with-robert-mcintyre/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/11/48-cryonics-2-lacuna-matata-with-robert-mcintyre/feed/1We speak with Robert McIntyre, winner of the Small Animal Brain Preservation Prize, about recent advances in brain preservation. A pretty good introduction to connectomics is this TED Talk by Sebastian Seung Robert recommends some papers on recent advances in scanning and simulation of brain … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/11/48-cryonics-2-lacuna-matata-with-robert-mcintyre/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>We speak with Robert McIntyre, winner of the Small Animal Brain Preservation Prize, about recent advances in brain preservation.

]]>We speak with Robert McIntyre, winner of the Small Animal Brain Preservation Prize, about recent advances in brain preservation. A pretty good introduction to connectomics is this TED Talk by Sebastian Seung Robert recommends some papers on recent adva...We speak with Robert McIntyre, winner of the Small Animal Brain Preservation Prize, about recent advances in brain preservation. A pretty good introduction to connectomics is this TED Talk by Sebastian Seung Robert recommends some papers on recent advances in scanning and simulation of brain … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes1:37:5547 – Post Scarcityhttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/11/47-post-scarcity/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 08 Nov 2017 08:00:14 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=425http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/11/47-post-scarcity/#respondhttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/11/47-post-scarcity/feed/0If this episode sounds a little sub-par, it’s because Steven edited it since Kyle was on vacation. Let his reputation remain intact! Check out Naveen Mishra on twitter! @urstrulymishra Life 3.0 by Max Tegmark Stanford’s Legal Design Lab Legalese: … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/11/47-post-scarcity/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>If this episode sounds a little sub-par, it’s because Steven edited it since Kyle was on vacation. Let his reputation remain intact!

]]>If this episode sounds a little sub-par, it’s because Steven edited it since Kyle was on vacation. Let his reputation remain intact! Check out Naveen Mishra on twitter! @urstrulymishra Life 3.0 by Max Tegmark Stanford’s Legal Design Lab Legalese: … C...If this episode sounds a little sub-par, it’s because Steven edited it since Kyle was on vacation. Let his reputation remain intact! Check out Naveen Mishra on twitter! @urstrulymishra Life 3.0 by Max Tegmark Stanford’s Legal Design Lab Legalese: … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes1:28:1746 – Social Media and Outrage Culturehttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/10/46-social-media-and-outrage-culture/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 25 Oct 2017 08:01:13 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=420http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/10/46-social-media-and-outrage-culture/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/10/46-social-media-and-outrage-culture/feed/7The Only Way to Win is Not to Play Major source used by Eneasz – Our Mind Can Be Hijacked Meditations on Moloch A recent Molochian short story Eneasz likes – Three Bodies at Mitanni The Two Income Trap Age … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/10/46-social-media-and-outrage-culture/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>The Only Way to Win is Not to Play

]]>The Only Way to Win is Not to Play Major source used by Eneasz – Our Mind Can Be Hijacked Meditations on Moloch A recent Molochian short story Eneasz likes – Three Bodies at Mitanni The Two Income Trap Age … Continue reading →The Only Way to Win is Not to Play Major source used by Eneasz – Our Mind Can Be Hijacked Meditations on Moloch A recent Molochian short story Eneasz likes – Three Bodies at Mitanni The Two Income Trap Age … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes1:31:0645 – Cryptocurrencieshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/10/45-cryptocurrencies/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 11 Oct 2017 15:02:46 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=416http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/10/45-cryptocurrencies/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/10/45-cryptocurrencies/feed/2A quick primer, and what do they have to do with EA? Bitcoin mining takes off in Venezuela due to hyperinflation of the local currency and nearly-free electricity. China is starting to shut down legal BitCoin use. What makes Ethereum … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/10/45-cryptocurrencies/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>A quick primer, and what do they have to do with EA?

]]>A quick primer, and what do they have to do with EA? Bitcoin mining takes off in Venezuela due to hyperinflation of the local currency and nearly-free electricity. China is starting to shut down legal BitCoin use. What makes Ethereum … Continue reading →A quick primer, and what do they have to do with EA? Bitcoin mining takes off in Venezuela due to hyperinflation of the local currency and nearly-free electricity. China is starting to shut down legal BitCoin use. What makes Ethereum … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes2:02:4744 – Burning Manhttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/09/44-burning-man/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Thu, 28 Sep 2017 07:24:53 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=410http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/09/44-burning-man/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/09/44-burning-man/feed/1Eneasz talks about his first Burning Man experience Sorry this is late. Please accept a 167 minute episode as apology? And 9/26 is Petrov Day! The 10 Principles of Burning Man, at the official Burning Man Organization site Eneasz’s series … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/09/44-burning-man/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>Eneasz talks about his first Burning Man experience

There’s a couple minutes of extra talk about the Burning Man Suicide that is available on Patreon. It’s free for anyone who wants to hear it, but we didn’t include it in the main episode, and don’t have it available on our main RSS feed, so that no one accidentally listens to it.

Does criticizing rationalists make you rationalist-adjacent? Ozy and the SSC subreddit gesture in the direction of “yeah, pretty much”.

We couldn’t contact Thomas in time to get his source, and will update this once we can, but it’s possible he was referring to the CDC’s fact sheet stating “CDC projects that approximately one in six MSM overall are at risk of being diagnosed with HIV in their lifetime if current diagnoses rates persist”

]]>Eneasz talks about his first Burning Man experience Sorry this is late. Please accept a 167 minute episode as apology? And 9/26 is Petrov Day! The 10 Principles of Burning Man, at the official Burning Man Organization site Eneasz’s series … Continue re...Eneasz talks about his first Burning Man experience Sorry this is late. Please accept a 167 minute episode as apology? And 9/26 is Petrov Day! The 10 Principles of Burning Man, at the official Burning Man Organization site Eneasz’s series … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes2:46:5843 – Parenting as a Rationalisthttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/09/43-parenting-as-a-rationalist/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 13 Sep 2017 08:01:43 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=407http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/09/43-parenting-as-a-rationalist/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/09/43-parenting-as-a-rationalist/feed/5We speak with aspiring rationalists with children. Our previous episode pondering children – Kids, These Days Louis C.K. has a bunch of stuff on parenting I Wonder by Annaka Harris, a book on emotional intelligence for children Article on treating kids … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/09/43-parenting-as-a-rationalist/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>We speak with aspiring rationalists with children.

Bryan Caplan argues that kids basically turn out how their genes direct, and parenting has little influence, so don’t sweat it too much (as long as you aren’t neglectful/abusive). Short Post and (comparatively) Long Book.

]]>We speak with aspiring rationalists with children. Our previous episode pondering children – Kids, These Days Louis C.K. has a bunch of stuff on parenting I Wonder by Annaka Harris, a book on emotional intelligence for children Article on treating kids...We speak with aspiring rationalists with children. Our previous episode pondering children – Kids, These Days Louis C.K. has a bunch of stuff on parenting I Wonder by Annaka Harris, a book on emotional intelligence for children Article on treating kids … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes1:56:2942 – Emotionally Charged Discussionhttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/08/42-emotionally-charged-discussion/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 30 Aug 2017 08:00:23 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=399http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/08/42-emotionally-charged-discussion/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/08/42-emotionally-charged-discussion/feed/1Julia Galef’s ‘Update Project‘. Check out some of the other links on her website too. Steven: “There’s a ton of content and techniques in this area that I wanted to cover and didn’t get a chance to. I’m including a … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/08/42-emotionally-charged-discussion/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>Julia Galef’s ‘Update Project‘. Check out some of the other links on her website too.

Steven: “There’s a ton of content and techniques in this area that I wanted to cover and didn’t get a chance to. I’m including a couple of further reading suggestions below.”

Brienne Yudkowsky’s blog “Agenty Duck” is the best source of introspective techniques and considerations on this and related topics that I’ve come across. I suggest starting with this post.

I’m also a huge fan of the Double Crux Game, which I’ve never had a chance to play formally. Basically you and a willing participant with whom you disagree on something figure out what the root cause of your disagreement is (almost never the apparent disagreement) and analyze the crux of your disagreement. At the end, you shouldn’t disagree anymore (like good Bayesians!) Check out links about this here and here.

]]>Julia Galef’s ‘Update Project‘. Check out some of the other links on her website too. Steven: “There’s a ton of content and techniques in this area that I wanted to cover and didn’t get a chance to. I’m including a … Continue reading →Julia Galef’s ‘Update Project‘. Check out some of the other links on her website too. Steven: “There’s a ton of content and techniques in this area that I wanted to cover and didn’t get a chance to. I’m including a … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes1:30:3641 – Ritual and Spiritualityhttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/08/41-ritual-and-spirituality/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 16 Aug 2017 08:01:34 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=396http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/08/41-ritual-and-spirituality/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/08/41-ritual-and-spirituality/feed/3More ritual than spirituality, honestly. We were aiming for both, but caught up in ritual. Perhaps we’ll revisit the spirituality aspect in a future episode! Melting Asphalt on Religion, Politics, and Self-Suppression Welcome to Night Vale, and my All Hail … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/08/41-ritual-and-spirituality/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>More ritual than spirituality, honestly. We were aiming for both, but caught up in ritual. Perhaps we’ll revisit the spirituality aspect in a future episode!

Jamal wrote in with this relevant link! It’s called Meditation 101 and covers all the basics.

]]>More ritual than spirituality, honestly. We were aiming for both, but caught up in ritual. Perhaps we’ll revisit the spirituality aspect in a future episode! Melting Asphalt on Religion, Politics, and Self-Suppression Welcome to Night Vale,More ritual than spirituality, honestly. We were aiming for both, but caught up in ritual. Perhaps we’ll revisit the spirituality aspect in a future episode! Melting Asphalt on Religion, Politics, and Self-Suppression Welcome to Night Vale, and my All Hail … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes1:54:4140 – Making Humans Legiblehttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/08/40-making-humans-legible/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 02 Aug 2017 08:01:14 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=391http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/08/40-making-humans-legible/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/08/40-making-humans-legible/feed/6You can’t control (well) what you can’t count Samzdat’s posts that served as the basis of much of this episode: Man as a Rationalist Animal, and The Meridian of Her Greatness. Also: The Use and Abuse of Witchdoctors for Life … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/08/40-making-humans-legible/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>You can’t control (well) what you can’t count

]]>You can’t control (well) what you can’t count Samzdat’s posts that served as the basis of much of this episode: Man as a Rationalist Animal, and The Meridian of Her Greatness. Also: The Use and Abuse of Witchdoctors for Life … Continue reading →You can’t control (well) what you can’t count Samzdat’s posts that served as the basis of much of this episode: Man as a Rationalist Animal, and The Meridian of Her Greatness. Also: The Use and Abuse of Witchdoctors for Life … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes1:43:3239 – Transhumanism (pt 2)http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/07/39-transhumanism-pt-2/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 19 Jul 2017 08:01:53 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=388http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/07/39-transhumanism-pt-2/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/07/39-transhumanism-pt-2/feed/5Under the Aegis of Transhuman Spiderman + Other Considerations (and Listener Feedback Catch-up) Fiction The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect, by Roger Williams The Golden Age, by John C Wright Utopia, LOL?, by Jamie Wahls (+audio version) Red Legacy and Other … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/07/39-transhumanism-pt-2/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>Under the Aegis of Transhuman Spiderman + Other Considerations (and Listener Feedback Catch-up)

]]>AlphaGo is back. Patrick talks about its latest accomplishments, its future, and other topics in game advances. Our first AlphaGo episode (a very early one, sorry about the audio quality) News of the most recent AlphaGo adventures Steph Curry’s trainin...AlphaGo is back. Patrick talks about its latest accomplishments, its future, and other topics in game advances. Our first AlphaGo episode (a very early one, sorry about the audio quality) News of the most recent AlphaGo adventures Steph Curry’s training … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes1:20:5436 – The Other Kind of Drugshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/06/36-the-other-kind-of-drugs/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 07 Jun 2017 08:01:07 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=372http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/06/36-the-other-kind-of-drugs/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/06/36-the-other-kind-of-drugs/feed/1All the cool kids are doing podcasts about drugs, so… The DARE program’s lack of efficacy (see also: Wikipedia page on DARE studies) How to get addicted to heroin without really trying. Eneasz thought he read this in The New … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/06/36-the-other-kind-of-drugs/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>All the cool kids are doing podcasts about drugs, so…

Eneasz couldn’t find any back-up for his claim that all cultures experience a 100-year pause in development after the discovery of alcohol, and since alcohol has been around since basically the start of civilization, he’s beginning to suspect that anecdote was meant as a joke.

Do children see the sky as blue, or even see “it” at all, before we tell them it’s there? Maybe Not

]]>All the cool kids are doing podcasts about drugs, so… The DARE program’s lack of efficacy (see also: Wikipedia page on DARE studies) How to get addicted to heroin without really trying. Eneasz thought he read this in The New … Continue reading →All the cool kids are doing podcasts about drugs, so… The DARE program’s lack of efficacy (see also: Wikipedia page on DARE studies) How to get addicted to heroin without really trying. Eneasz thought he read this in The New … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes1:38:3135 – Your Brain on Nootropicshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/05/35-your-brain-on-nootropics/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 24 May 2017 08:01:43 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=366http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/05/35-your-brain-on-nootropics/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/05/35-your-brain-on-nootropics/feed/6** Fixed the audio. Please re-download for the correct episode. ** Drugs that boost mental performance for dummies. Did caffiene help kickstart the Enlightenment era? FOR SCIENCE! /r/nootropics for your nootropic discussion needs Other places to discuss include Nootropics Depot and … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/05/35-your-brain-on-nootropics/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>** Fixed the audio. Please re-download for the correct episode. **

Comadena’s study finds that friends & spouses have better deception rates than acquaintances, but friends have better deception rates than spouses. So, it’s more like closeness helps your lie-detection ability up to a point, but past that point of closeness, it starts to hurt instead of help. Some other studies show no significant difference between detection rates of strangers vs people in close relationships

]]>The Logical Fallacy of Generalizing from fictional evidence Genie Button Though Experiment Wait but Why on AI Part 1 and Part 2 The Downfall meme we mentioned. This is Steven’s favorite version. Yudkowsky vs Hanson – Great AI FOOM debate and the … Con...The Logical Fallacy of Generalizing from fictional evidence Genie Button Though Experiment Wait but Why on AI Part 1 and Part 2 The Downfall meme we mentioned. This is Steven’s favorite version. Yudkowsky vs Hanson – Great AI FOOM debate and the … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes2:04:4731 – Digital Rights and Privacyhttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/03/31-digital-rights-and-privacy/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 29 Mar 2017 08:01:44 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=343http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/03/31-digital-rights-and-privacy/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/03/31-digital-rights-and-privacy/feed/3Who can access the external part of your brain that you carry around in your pocket? What rights do you have to it? With Chase. Police demand audio records from the Echo of a murder victim, Amazon displeased (more details) EFF … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/03/31-digital-rights-and-privacy/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>Who can access the external part of your brain that you carry around in your pocket? What rights do you have to it? With Chase.

Published after we recorded – Why You Should Care About The Supreme Court Case On Toner Cartridges (From article – “you don’t “own” things like movies, music, or even the software on your phone; rather, it’s being licensed, which means companies can go to all kinds of lengths to keep controlling how, when, and where you use the things you’ve bought long after you’ve bought them.”)

]]>Who can access the external part of your brain that you carry around in your pocket? What rights do you have to it? With Chase. Police demand audio records from the Echo of a murder victim, Amazon displeased (more details) EFF … Continue reading →Who can access the external part of your brain that you carry around in your pocket? What rights do you have to it? With Chase. Police demand audio records from the Echo of a murder victim, Amazon displeased (more details) EFF … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes1:21:3530 – Of Specks and Omletteshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/03/30-of-specks-and-omlettes/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 15 Mar 2017 08:01:29 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=338http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/03/30-of-specks-and-omlettes/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/03/30-of-specks-and-omlettes/feed/8We discuss a famously controversial post, despite our better judgement. With Sean and Matt. The Post: Torture Vs Dust Specks Rationality: From AI to Zombies – The Podcast Shut Up And Multiply is actually taken from two posts: Circular Altruism and The … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/03/30-of-specks-and-omlettes/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>We discuss a famously controversial post, despite our better judgement. With Sean and Matt.

In this bonus episode, Eneasz and Steven respond to some of the feedback to the Nazi Punching episode. Thank you to everyone who provided thoughtful comments. Be assured we read everything, but we only have so much time to respond on the air.

]]>Forgive the pun. I couldn’t help myself. (Steven) In this bonus episode, Eneasz and Steven respond to some of the feedback to the Nazi Punching episode. Thank you to everyone who provided thoughtful comments. Be assured we read everything,Forgive the pun. I couldn’t help myself. (Steven) In this bonus episode, Eneasz and Steven respond to some of the feedback to the Nazi Punching episode. Thank you to everyone who provided thoughtful comments. Be assured we read everything, but … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes56:0528 – Effective Altruismhttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/02/28-effective-altruism/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 15 Feb 2017 08:01:50 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=317http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/02/28-effective-altruism/#respondhttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/02/28-effective-altruism/feed/0Being effective vs. feeling good. EA is a big topic, this is really just an intro for the uninitiated. The Life You Can Save, by Peter Singer (and the inspired-by website) Money: The Unit of Caring, by Eliezer Yudkowsky Nobody … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/02/28-effective-altruism/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>Being effective vs. feeling good. EA is a big topic, this is really just an intro for the uninitiated.

]]>Being effective vs. feeling good. EA is a big topic, this is really just an intro for the uninitiated. The Life You Can Save, by Peter Singer (and the inspired-by website) Money: The Unit of Caring, by Eliezer Yudkowsky Nobody … Continue reading →Being effective vs. feeling good. EA is a big topic, this is really just an intro for the uninitiated. The Life You Can Save, by Peter Singer (and the inspired-by website) Money: The Unit of Caring, by Eliezer Yudkowsky Nobody … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes1:14:5627 – On Punching Nazishttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/02/27-im-the-bad-guy/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 01 Feb 2017 08:01:34 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=311http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/02/27-im-the-bad-guy/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/02/27-im-the-bad-guy/feed/8When is it OK to punch Nazis? With Sean. Original Richard Spencer being punched video Follow-up video of the guy who punched him being briefly confronted Eneasz’s two posts on the topic Ken White of Popehat On Punching Nazis (he’s against … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2017/02/27-im-the-bad-guy/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>When is it OK to punch Nazis? With Sean.

Google’s deep learning utilizes these sorts of networks. “The Great AI Awakening” discusses this at some length, and is Eneasz’s source for visual recognition software finding cats in youtube videos and The Hidden Watchers.

This Alien Shore is what inspired Eneasz’s face-tattoos, it contains a society where every morning people apply very elaborate face make-up to signal their interests, social status, careers, education, etc. Those who are very confident they won’t have personality shifts over time get them tattooed on.

Scott Alexander’s definition of signaling: a method of conveying information among not-necessarily-trustworthy parties by performing an action which is more likely or less costly if the information is true than if it is not true.

Batesian mimicry is parasitic in that one species (the most edible one) benefits to the detriment of the model species. It can only be maintained if the harm caused to the predator by eating the model outweighs the benefit of eating the mimic. –Sterns & Hoekstra. Evolution: An Introduction (5th ed.). p. 464.

Katrina: To clarify, it’s hard for me to tell where the truth lies on the cost/benefit analysis of making a child. It isn’t hard to predict a child’s impact on carbon emissions. That’s clearly a cost.

]]> Robin Hanson’s “What is Signaling?” Scott Alexander’s definition of signaling: a method of conveying information among not-necessarily-trustworthy parties by performing an action which is more likely or less costly if the information is true than if ... Robin Hanson’s “What is Signaling?” Scott Alexander’s definition of signaling: a method of conveying information among not-necessarily-trustworthy parties by performing an action which is more likely or less costly if the information is true than if it is not … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes1:32:2823 – Desirism with Alonzo Fyfehttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/12/23-desirism-with-alonzo-fyfe/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 07 Dec 2016 08:00:58 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=264http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/12/23-desirism-with-alonzo-fyfe/#respondhttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/12/23-desirism-with-alonzo-fyfe/feed/0Alonzo blogs at The Atheist Ethicist Common Sense Atheism’s ULTIMATE Desirism FAQ Link to The Atheist Ethicist’s overview of Desirism Wikia page on Desirism Alonzo blogs at The Atheist Ethicist

Katrina mentioned that she’d read that the impact of child rape is less severe on cultures where this practice is typical. It turns out is was a comment on this LessWrong post and the validity of this statement is not certain.

]]>The conspirators discuss a minor setback. The Safety Pin movement Scott Alexander on your model of the electorate A slightly-more-articulate version of Eneasz’s decision to change the deep past now Eliezer Yudkowsky on the optimism of Trump voters The conspirators discuss a minor setback. The Safety Pin movement Scott Alexander on your model of the electorate A slightly-more-articulate version of Eneasz’s decision to change the deep past now Eliezer Yudkowsky on the optimism of Trump voters The Bayesian Conspiracyyes20:4521 – Kids, These Dayshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/11/21-kids-these-days/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 09 Nov 2016 08:01:42 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=239http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/11/21-kids-these-days/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/11/21-kids-these-days/feed/8Considerations on Procreation Not having kids – is it like drinking unicorn blood, in that you’ll lead a cursed life, a half-life? How The Woman Got Her Period (“The endometrium seals off our main blood supply from the newly implanted … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/11/21-kids-these-days/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>Considerations on Procreation

How The Woman Got Her Period (“The endometrium seals off our main blood supply from the newly implanted embryo. The growing placenta literally burrows through this layer, rips into arterial walls and re-wires them to channel blood straight to the hungry embryo. It delves deep into the surrounding tissues, razes them and pumps the arteries full of hormones so they expand into the space created. It paralyzes these arteries so the mother cannot even constrict them. What this means is that the growing fetus now has direct, unrestricted access to its mother’s blood supply. It can manufacture hormones and use them to manipulate her.”)

Steven said something about a survey of skeptics offered a hypothetical $10,000 to exchange your wedding ring for a duplicate. He couldn’t find the link, but he’s pretty sure Massimo Pigliucci was talking about it at TAM 8. (Here’s his powerpoint from the talk. Either I’m misremembering or he talked about it during QA).

]]>Considerations on Procreation Not having kids – is it like drinking unicorn blood, in that you’ll lead a cursed life, a half-life? How The Woman Got Her Period (“The endometrium seals off our main blood supply from the newly implanted … Continue reading →Considerations on Procreation Not having kids – is it like drinking unicorn blood, in that you’ll lead a cursed life, a half-life? How The Woman Got Her Period (“The endometrium seals off our main blood supply from the newly implanted … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes1:27:4120 – What’s important?http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/10/20-whats-important/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 26 Oct 2016 08:00:18 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=231http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/10/20-whats-important/#respondhttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/10/20-whats-important/feed/0Subjects the politicians aren’t talking about, that they really should be talking about. Links! UN resolution on antibiotics US banning of antibiotics in soap Guy with potentially antibiotic resistant tuberculosis (that ended up not so dangerous) sued CDC. More drug … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/10/20-whats-important/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>Subjects the politicians aren’t talking about, that they really should be talking about.

Will MacAskill, author of Doing Good Better and founder of the Center for Effective Altruism – the idea of giving a cash prize to the group that comes up with the cure rather than funding research directly. (Discussed in this episode of the Sam Harris Podcast)

DarkLordAzreal’s comment about The Microverse in a box question: Maybe think about it this way… given that the simulated micro-world is an exact copy of the world, then any person has a 50% chance of being in the box rather than in the original world.

]]>Subjects the politicians aren’t talking about, that they really should be talking about. Links! UN resolution on antibiotics US banning of antibiotics in soap Guy with potentially antibiotic resistant tuberculosis (that ended up not so dangerous) sued ...Subjects the politicians aren’t talking about, that they really should be talking about. Links! UN resolution on antibiotics US banning of antibiotics in soap Guy with potentially antibiotic resistant tuberculosis (that ended up not so dangerous) sued CDC. More drug … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes1:25:0619 – Political Pitfallshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/10/19-political-pitfalls/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 12 Oct 2016 08:00:20 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=217http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/10/19-political-pitfalls/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/10/19-political-pitfalls/feed/5Note: Oops! We accidentally used a crummy laptop microphone. Audio is lower quality for this episode. Links: Politics is the Mind Killer on Less Wrong “Chimpanzee Politics“: A book about two chimpanzees competing to run the “club of chimpanzees” featured on HPMoR … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/10/19-political-pitfalls/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>Note: Oops! We accidentally used a crummy laptop microphone. Audio is lower quality for this episode.

]]>Note: Oops! We accidentally used a crummy laptop microphone. Audio is lower quality for this episode. Links: Politics is the Mind Killer on Less Wrong “Chimpanzee Politics“: A book about two chimpanzees competing to run the “club of chimpanzees” featu...Note: Oops! We accidentally used a crummy laptop microphone. Audio is lower quality for this episode. Links: Politics is the Mind Killer on Less Wrong “Chimpanzee Politics“: A book about two chimpanzees competing to run the “club of chimpanzees” featured on HPMoR … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes1:33:3518 – Robin Hanson Interviewhttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/09/18-robin-hanson-interview/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 28 Sep 2016 08:01:07 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=213http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/09/18-robin-hanson-interview/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/09/18-robin-hanson-interview/feed/3We speak with GMU economist Robin Hanson. (note that the audio improves significantly when we switch mics at ~20min) Robin blogs at Overcoming Bias We discuss his recent book, The Age of Em Robin Hanson discusses prediction markets in greater length … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/09/18-robin-hanson-interview/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>We speak with GMU economist Robin Hanson. (note that the audio improves significantly when we switch mics at ~20min)

Less Wrong article by FiddleMath: “Handling Emotional Appeals“, wherein they ask (among other things) – Can you postpone being moved by an emotional appeal until after making a calm decision about it? Can you somehow otherwise filter for emotional appeals that are highly likely to have positive effects?

]]>Feelings – should we have them? The Conspiracy decides! This American Life episode about Testosterone Julia Galef’s presentation on The Straw Vulcan. Also – a text summary of same Less Wrong article: “Feeling Rational” Steven Universe is The Best!Feelings – should we have them? The Conspiracy decides! This American Life episode about Testosterone Julia Galef’s presentation on The Straw Vulcan. Also – a text summary of same Less Wrong article: “Feeling Rational” Steven Universe is The Best! Sam Harris … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes1:09:2216 – Animals Againhttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/08/16-animals-again/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 31 Aug 2016 08:01:18 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=195http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/08/16-animals-again/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/08/16-animals-again/feed/1We addressed a couple things that we missed last time, and got carried away. Katrina referenced the book “Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?” Chimps have amazing flash-memory AIs can fly our fighter jets better than we … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/08/16-animals-again/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>We addressed a couple things that we missed last time, and got carried away.

Ozy re: Rationalist Culture. Eneasz’s fav quote (edited for length) – “LW Tumblr tends to view rationality not as a set of beliefs but as a set of topics. So if you post “the Singularity is the rapture for nerds”, rationalist Tumblr as a whole will conclude that you are a rationalist and trying to be friends, and will behave accordingly. (“Behaving accordingly” involves reblogging you with long-winded rebuttals)

]]>We addressed a couple things that we missed last time, and got carried away. Katrina referenced the book “Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?” Chimps have amazing flash-memory AIs can fly our fighter jets better than we … Continue reading →We addressed a couple things that we missed last time, and got carried away. Katrina referenced the book “Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?” Chimps have amazing flash-memory AIs can fly our fighter jets better than we … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes1:24:1315 – Animalshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/08/15-animals/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 17 Aug 2016 08:00:01 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=177http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/08/15-animals/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/08/15-animals/feed/4Katrina referenced the book “Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?” Wiki page about the author. See also, wikipedia on animal cognition. About the crow facial recognition and warning study. Prairie dog language study. The thought experiment … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/08/15-animals/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>Katrina referenced the book “Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?” Wiki page about the author. See also, wikipedia on animal cognition.

The anti-CAFO organization is called Socially Responsible Agriculture Project.

Steven insists on linking to Neil deGrasse Tyson talking about intelligence since he really doesn’t feel like he did any justice in his paraphrasing.

Katrina’s self-corrections and comments:

I said that there isn’t much of a difference between social and solitary animals in terms of modeling other individuals. That is false. There is a difference. I just don’t want to discredit other forms of cognition.

I used terms like “intrinsic value,” but I don’t actually think that anything has value other than what it’s assigned by itself and/or others. I DO think that non-humans can confer value.

“Insects are the equivalent of moving rocks,” is quite a thing to say to an entomologist, guys.

We were negative about hunting. On its face, hunting animals with healthy wild populations for food is probably preferable to consuming an equivalent amount of factory farmed animals.

I meant “legislation” regarding condensed animal feeding operations (CAFOs), not “litigation,” although that has its place as well.

]]>Katrina referenced the book “Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?” Wiki page about the author. See also, wikipedia on animal cognition. About the crow facial recognition and warning study. Prairie dog language study.Katrina referenced the book “Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?” Wiki page about the author. See also, wikipedia on animal cognition. About the crow facial recognition and warning study. Prairie dog language study. The thought experiment … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes1:24:3514 – Street Epistemologyhttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/08/14-street-epistemology/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 03 Aug 2016 08:00:28 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=156http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/08/14-street-epistemology/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/08/14-street-epistemology/feed/3Steve (@youngidealist on twitter) talks to us about Street Epistemology The Street Epistemology website, which has been significantly updated and expanded since we recorded this episode. Looking nice! The Street Epistemology book – A Manual For Creating Atheists Short text … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/08/14-street-epistemology/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>Steve (@youngidealist on twitter) talks to us about Street Epistemology

]]>Steve (@youngidealist on twitter) talks to us about Street Epistemology The Street Epistemology website, which has been significantly updated and expanded since we recorded this episode. Looking nice! The Street Epistemology book – A Manual For Creatin...Steve (@youngidealist on twitter) talks to us about Street Epistemology The Street Epistemology website, which has been significantly updated and expanded since we recorded this episode. Looking nice! The Street Epistemology book – A Manual For Creating Atheists Short text … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes1:20:1813 – Game Theoryhttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/07/game-theory/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 20 Jul 2016 08:00:07 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=159http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/07/game-theory/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/07/game-theory/feed/8It’s about modeling agents making decisions, not game design. 🙂 – EB …but you can also apply game theory to game design. – KS Yvain’s sequence of posts introducing Game Theory Defecting is MADE OF FIRE Wikipedia on Dr. Axelrod’s Iterated … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/07/game-theory/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>It’s about modeling agents making decisions, not game design. – EB

]]>It’s about modeling agents making decisions, not game design. 🙂 – EB …but you can also apply game theory to game design. – KS Yvain’s sequence of posts introducing Game Theory Defecting is MADE OF FIRE Wikipedia on Dr.It’s about modeling agents making decisions, not game design. 🙂 – EB …but you can also apply game theory to game design. – KS Yvain’s sequence of posts introducing Game Theory Defecting is MADE OF FIRE Wikipedia on Dr. Axelrod’s Iterated … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes1:37:1512 – Listener Feedbackhttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/07/12-listener-feedback/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 06 Jul 2016 08:00:48 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=140http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/07/12-listener-feedback/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/07/12-listener-feedback/feed/4We covered ten episodes of feedback in one hour (and a half)! After this, we’ll reply to comments regularly at the end of episodes. Comment either at the website (www.thebayesianconspiracy.com) or at the subreddit (www.reddit.com/r/thebayesianconspiracy/). Or email us – bayesianconspiracypodcast at … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/07/12-listener-feedback/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>We covered ten episodes of feedback in one hour (and a half)! After this, we’ll reply to comments regularly at the end of episodes. Comment either at the website (www.thebayesianconspiracy.com)?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss or at the subreddit (www.reddit.com/r/thebayesianconspiracy/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss). Or email us – bayesianconspiracypodcast at gmail.

TONS of links this episode, because we covered such a variety of stuff:

Fun Theory Sequence (which is mostly a list of links to even more articles, so… this’ll take a while if you haven’t read it before)
Or more briefly (but much less comprehensively) – Morality is Awesome!

The episode of Skeptoid regarding the fire in Waco and David Koresh. I think it’s a great way to give some more info on the topic and sneak some critical thinking in as well.

]]>We covered ten episodes of feedback in one hour (and a half)! After this, we’ll reply to comments regularly at the end of episodes. Comment either at the website (www.thebayesianconspiracy.com) or at the subreddit (www.reddit.We covered ten episodes of feedback in one hour (and a half)! After this, we’ll reply to comments regularly at the end of episodes. Comment either at the website (www.thebayesianconspiracy.com) or at the subreddit (www.reddit.com/r/thebayesianconspiracy/). Or email us – bayesianconspiracypodcast at … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes1:28:2311 – Votinghttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/06/10-voting/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 22 Jun 2016 08:00:50 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=133http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/06/10-voting/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/06/10-voting/feed/11Is it rational to vote? We realize the audio quality when we have live guests is terrible, we’re working to fix that now, hopefully things will start sounding better very soon. Thanks for bearing with us! Eneasz wants to say … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/06/10-voting/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>Is it rational to vote?

We realize the audio quality when we have live guests is terrible, we’re working to fix that now, hopefully things will start sounding better very soon. Thanks for bearing with us!

Eneasz wants to say that his understanding of Timeless Decision Theory is likely flawed, because it is big and complicated and he is small and simple. His interpretation of it in this episode is not necessarily entirely correct, it is merely his best understanding. He is, as always, open to correction.

]]>Is it rational to vote? We realize the audio quality when we have live guests is terrible, we’re working to fix that now, hopefully things will start sounding better very soon. Thanks for bearing with us! Eneasz wants to say … Continue reading →Is it rational to vote? We realize the audio quality when we have live guests is terrible, we’re working to fix that now, hopefully things will start sounding better very soon. Thanks for bearing with us! Eneasz wants to say … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes1:12:5110 – Polyamory (part 2)http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/06/9-polyamory-part-2/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 08 Jun 2016 08:01:47 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=120http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/06/9-polyamory-part-2/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/06/9-polyamory-part-2/feed/26The second half of our conversation on polyamory, because we talked and talked and the episode went long. As with Part 1, positions of other parties, including current and former partners, are very likely misrepresented in this episode. Links: More … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/06/9-polyamory-part-2/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>The second half of our conversation on polyamory, because we talked and talked and the episode went long. As with Part 1, positions of other parties, including current and former partners, are very likely misrepresented in this episode.

Links:

More Than Two – An excellent online resource to ethical non-monogamy. It is also the title of a book by the creator of the website, Franklin Veaux along with Eve Rickert.

Researcher Elisabeth Sheff has written several books on polyamory and has an ongoing blog on Psychology Today. Along with More Than Two, this is a great resource for detailed information on polyamory. For example, how do children fare with poly parents? How do people navigate relationships in which one partner is poly and the other is mono?

The Scarborough family – 8 adults and 3 kids in one huge house, being evicted for no good reason.
[note: these articles are from late 2014. Eneasz contacted the person who organized their legal defense fund crowdsource, and learned that this is still ongoing. To quote:

Unfortunately the court case(s) are still in process, which is stressful for the family. The city sued in court to enforce the zoning and the family had to counter with a federal suit challenging the constitutionality of the narrow definition of family.

The Planning and Zoning Commission in Hartford is currently considering adopting a functional family definition. Public support (and outreach to that commission) and media pressure / articles are helpful right now. Director of Planning – Jamie.Bratt@hartford.gov

Fortunately the Scarborough family is still living in their home. They actually just installed an urban bee hive to complement their large garden and flower beds! They’re doing their best to live their normal lives despite the stress and uncertainty.

]

Do you like space operas featuring diverse characters and poly relationships? Try Ascension, by Jacqueline Koyanagi

]]>The second half of our conversation on polyamory, because we talked and talked and the episode went long. As with Part 1, positions of other parties, including current and former partners, are very likely misrepresented in this episode.The second half of our conversation on polyamory, because we talked and talked and the episode went long. As with Part 1, positions of other parties, including current and former partners, are very likely misrepresented in this episode. Links: More … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes1:19:199 – Polyamory (part 1)http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/06/episode-9-polyamory/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 01 Jun 2016 08:00:19 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=111http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/06/episode-9-polyamory/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/06/episode-9-polyamory/feed/22What’s Polyamory got to do with Rationalism anyway? Be Advised: 1.) This episode contains curse words. 2.) Always, but especially when talking about sensitive, nuanced issues like human relationships, it’s important to note that we are only speaking for ourselves. … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/06/episode-9-polyamory/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>What’s Polyamory got to do with Rationalism anyway?

Be Advised:

1.) This episode contains curse words.

2.) Always, but especially when talking about sensitive, nuanced issues like human relationships, it’s important to note that we are only speaking for ourselves. Positions of other parties, including current and former partners, may be misrepresented in this episode.

Links!

More Than Two – An excellent online resource to ethical non-monogamy. It is also the title of a book by the creator of the website, Franklin Veaux, and Eve Rickert.

]]>What’s Polyamory got to do with Rationalism anyway? Be Advised: 1.) This episode contains curse words. 2.) Always, but especially when talking about sensitive, nuanced issues like human relationships, it’s important to note that we are only speaking fo...What’s Polyamory got to do with Rationalism anyway? Be Advised: 1.) This episode contains curse words. 2.) Always, but especially when talking about sensitive, nuanced issues like human relationships, it’s important to note that we are only speaking for ourselves. … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes1:20:408 – Interview with Brian Dunninghttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/05/8-interview-with-brian-dunning/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 18 May 2016 08:01:38 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=103http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/05/8-interview-with-brian-dunning/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/05/8-interview-with-brian-dunning/feed/1We speak with Brian Dunning, best known as the host/creator of the Skeptoid podcast. He has also created Here Be Dragons, a 40-minute introduction to critical thinking. Mentioned in this episode: The Vanishing Village of Angikuni Lake Chris Hallquist on … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/05/8-interview-with-brian-dunning/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>We speak with Brian Dunning, best known as the host/creator of the Skeptoid podcast. He has also created Here Be Dragons, a 40-minute introduction to critical thinking.

]]>We speak with Brian Dunning, best known as the host/creator of the Skeptoid podcast. He has also created Here Be Dragons, a 40-minute introduction to critical thinking. Mentioned in this episode: The Vanishing Village of Angikuni Lake Chris Hallquist o...We speak with Brian Dunning, best known as the host/creator of the Skeptoid podcast. He has also created Here Be Dragons, a 40-minute introduction to critical thinking. Mentioned in this episode: The Vanishing Village of Angikuni Lake Chris Hallquist on … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes1:02:487 – Kill All Humans?http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/05/7-kill-all-humans-placeholder-title/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 04 May 2016 08:00:41 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=95http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/05/7-kill-all-humans-placeholder-title/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/05/7-kill-all-humans-placeholder-title/feed/20[content warning: suicide, human extinction. Might be a bad idea to listen to if you suffer suicidal tendencies.] We speak to Jason, who would take extreme measures to end all suffering. However, lacking extreme powers, he recommends doing good as efficiently as possible, … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/05/7-kill-all-humans-placeholder-title/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>[content warning: suicide, human extinction. Might be a bad idea to listen to if you suffer suicidal tendencies.]

We speak to Jason, who would take extreme measures to end all suffering. However, lacking extreme powers, he recommends doing good as efficiently as possible, and offers these resources:

Scott Alexander’s retelling of the final act of Job (and sadly, according to comments there, he wasn’t the first to think of it – a Christian philosopher beat him to it by a few years. Still, Scott’s version is FAR more entertaining!)

Turns out, the idea that people adapt to negative events and return to their previous set-point is a myth. Although the exact effects vary depending on the bad event, disability, divorce, loss of a partner, and unemployment all have long-term negative effects on happiness. Unemployment is the one event that can be undone relatively easily, but the effects persist even after people become reemployed. I’m only citing four studies here, but a meta analysis of the literature shows that the results are robust across existing studies.

The same thing applies to positive events. While it’s “common knowledge” that winning the lottery doesn’t make people happier, it turns out that isn’t true, either.

I believe moral value is inherent in those systems and entities that we describe as ‘fascinating’, ‘richly structured’ and ‘beautiful’. A snappy way of characterising this view is “value-as-profundity”. On the other hand, I regard pain and pleasure as having no value at all in themselves.

In the context of interpersonal affairs, then, to do good is ultimately to make the people around you more profound, more interesting, more beautiful – their happiness is irrelevant. To do evil, on the other hand, is to damage and degrade something, shutting down its higher features, closing off its possibilities.

I don’t know how effective these are, but because we’re not monsters – this is a suicide helpline. 1 (800) 273-8255. Please call if you’re feeling suicidal. Or text “GO” to 741-741

]]>[content warning: suicide, human extinction. Might be a bad idea to listen to if you suffer suicidal tendencies.] We speak to Jason, who would take extreme measures to end all suffering. However, lacking extreme powers,[content warning: suicide, human extinction. Might be a bad idea to listen to if you suffer suicidal tendencies.] We speak to Jason, who would take extreme measures to end all suffering. However, lacking extreme powers, he recommends doing good as efficiently as possible, … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes1:19:326 – Cryonicshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/04/6-cryonics/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 20 Apr 2016 08:00:59 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=87http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/04/6-cryonics/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/04/6-cryonics/feed/14The Conspirators talk cryonics. Spoiler alert, they are signed up (and signing up soon) for the big freeze. Katrina is a cryocrastinator. The in-depth cryonics article that sparked this conversation, “Why Cryonics Makes Sense” by Tim : Wait But Why Essay … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/04/6-cryonics/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>The Conspirators talk cryonics. Spoiler alert, they are signed up (and signing up soon) for the big freeze. Katrina is a cryocrastinator.

]]>The Conspirators talk cryonics. Spoiler alert, they are signed up (and signing up soon) for the big freeze. Katrina is a cryocrastinator. The in-depth cryonics article that sparked this conversation, “Why Cryonics Makes Sense” by Tim : Wait But Why Ess...The Conspirators talk cryonics. Spoiler alert, they are signed up (and signing up soon) for the big freeze. Katrina is a cryocrastinator. The in-depth cryonics article that sparked this conversation, “Why Cryonics Makes Sense” by Tim : Wait But Why Essay … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes1:06:115 – When Grandmas ask “What is Rationality?”http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/04/5-when-grandmas-ask-what-is-rationality/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 06 Apr 2016 08:00:32 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=82http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/04/5-when-grandmas-ask-what-is-rationality/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/04/5-when-grandmas-ask-what-is-rationality/feed/10An ELI5 (Explain Like I’m 5) episode. Our answers when someone asks “What is Rationality anyway?” and they have a bit of time. (If they don’t have time, Eneasz’s Elevator Pitch is “Rationality is a systematized method of making your beliefs … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/04/5-when-grandmas-ask-what-is-rationality/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>An ELI5 (Explain Like I’m 5) episode. Our answers when someone asks “What is Rationality anyway?” and they have a bit of time.
(If they don’t have time, Eneasz’s Elevator Pitch is “Rationality is a systematized method of making your beliefs more closely match reality”)

]]>An ELI5 (Explain Like I’m 5) episode. Our answers when someone asks “What is Rationality anyway?” and they have a bit of time. (If they don’t have time, Eneasz’s Elevator Pitch is “Rationality is a systematized method of making your beliefs … Continue ...An ELI5 (Explain Like I’m 5) episode. Our answers when someone asks “What is Rationality anyway?” and they have a bit of time. (If they don’t have time, Eneasz’s Elevator Pitch is “Rationality is a systematized method of making your beliefs … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes1:03:244 – AlphaGo, with Patrick Chapinhttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/03/4-alphago-with-patrick-chapin/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 23 Mar 2016 08:01:36 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=76http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/03/4-alphago-with-patrick-chapin/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/03/4-alphago-with-patrick-chapin/feed/6Patrick Chapin (of Top Level Podcast) joins us as a guest-host to talk about AlphaGo’s recent victory over Go master Lee Sedol. We get a primer on how AlphaGo works, a recap of all five games in the match, and … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/03/4-alphago-with-patrick-chapin/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>Patrick Chapin (of Top Level Podcast) joins us as a guest-host to talk about AlphaGo’s recent victory over Go master Lee Sedol. We get a primer on how AlphaGo works, a recap of all five games in the match, and thoughts on what this means.

(The airing of this episode was pushed up, so we can pretend to be sorta-timely)

]]>Patrick Chapin (of Top Level Podcast) joins us as a guest-host to talk about AlphaGo’s recent victory over Go master Lee Sedol. We get a primer on how AlphaGo works, a recap of all five games in the match, and … Continue reading →Patrick Chapin (of Top Level Podcast) joins us as a guest-host to talk about AlphaGo’s recent victory over Go master Lee Sedol. We get a primer on how AlphaGo works, a recap of all five games in the match, and … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes1:12:373 – Interview with Eliezer Yudkowskyhttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/03/3-interview-with-eliezer-yudkowski/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 16 Mar 2016 08:01:38 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=61http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/03/3-interview-with-eliezer-yudkowski/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/03/3-interview-with-eliezer-yudkowski/feed/1We welcomed the one, the only, Eliezer Yudkowsky to the Bayesian Conspiracy for a quick chat. His latest project is Arbital, an ambitious effort to solve online discussion. It is focusing on solving online explanation. They want to do for difficult explanations – and … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/03/3-interview-with-eliezer-yudkowski/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>We welcomed the one, the only, Eliezer Yudkowsky to the Bayesian Conspiracy for a quick chat.

His latest project is Arbital, an ambitious effort to solve online discussion. It is focusing on solving online explanation. They want to do for difficult explanations – and someday, complicated arguments in general – what Wikipedia did for centralizing humanity’s recounting of agreed-on facts.

One Eliezer Yudkowsky writes about the fine art of human rationality. That Eliezer Yudkowsky’s work can be found in the Rationality section.

The other Eliezer Yudkowsky concerns himself with Artificial Intelligence. Very shortly – on a historical scale, that is – we can expect technology to break the upper bound on intelligence that has held for the last few tens of thousands of years. For more on this see the Singularity tab.

My short fiction, miscellaneous essays, and various other things can be found under Other.

]]>We welcomed the one, the only, Eliezer Yudkowsky to the Bayesian Conspiracy for a quick chat. His latest project is Arbital, an ambitious effort to solve online discussion. It is focusing on solving online explanation.We welcomed the one, the only, Eliezer Yudkowsky to the Bayesian Conspiracy for a quick chat. His latest project is Arbital, an ambitious effort to solve online discussion. It is focusing on solving online explanation. They want to do for difficult explanations – and … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes57:022 – What is this “Sanity Waterline” you speak of?http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/03/episode-two-what-is-this-sanity-waterline-you-speak-of/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Wed, 02 Mar 2016 08:01:33 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=56http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/03/episode-two-what-is-this-sanity-waterline-you-speak-of/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/03/episode-two-what-is-this-sanity-waterline-you-speak-of/feed/9Can the Sanity Waterline be raised? Should it be? And just what does that mean anyway? Based on the post “Raising The Sanity Waterline” Also relevant to today’s discussion: Joy In The Merely Real, Christian Bale Did Nothing Wrong, and You … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/03/episode-two-what-is-this-sanity-waterline-you-speak-of/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>Can the Sanity Waterline be raised? Should it be? And just what does that mean anyway? Based on the post “Raising The Sanity Waterline”

]]>Can the Sanity Waterline be raised? Should it be? And just what does that mean anyway? Based on the post “Raising The Sanity Waterline” Also relevant to today’s discussion: Joy In The Merely Real, Christian Bale Did Nothing Wrong,Can the Sanity Waterline be raised? Should it be? And just what does that mean anyway? Based on the post “Raising The Sanity Waterline” Also relevant to today’s discussion: Joy In The Merely Real, Christian Bale Did Nothing Wrong, and You … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes1:03:271 – What Use is Rationality?http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/02/episode-one-what-use-is-rationality/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
Thu, 18 Feb 2016 03:39:20 +0000http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/?p=23http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/02/episode-one-what-use-is-rationality/#commentshttp://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/02/episode-one-what-use-is-rationality/feed/8We spent the hour trying to answer a question posed to Eneasz regarding his work with the Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality Podcast. Here is the query (with pleasantries removed): Is there evidence that a rational approach to … <a href="http://www.thebayesianconspiracy.com/2016/02/episode-one-what-use-is-rationality/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>We spent the hour trying to answer a question posed to Eneasz regarding his work with the Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality Podcast. Here is the query (with pleasantries removed):

Is there evidence that a rational approach to decision making, either on the personal or institutional level, will be more likely to achieve desired outcomes? For example, HPMOR implies that a perfectly rational decision maker will do a better job than a very smart and informed adhoc decision maker, but I don’t understand why this should be the case. After all, the Bayesian priors for any real life problem aren’t available and if you’re estimating how are you doing better than someone using their knowledge and intuition. I don’t include empirical decision making as inherently rational here, so for example, if GiveDirectly were the best charity I see that as more of a data driven outcome than a rational one. Obviously, the two aren’t mutually exclusive, so I could be missing something.

We thought that maybe this was a case of the question writer using a different definition of “rational” than we do, but we dove in, trying to pick the question apart and introduce some rationality concepts at the same time.

Concepts and Linkz:

Difference between epistemic and instrumental rationality

Instrumental rationality is concerned with achieving goals. More specifically, instrumental rationality is the art of choosing and implementing actions that steer the future toward outcomes ranked higher in one’s preferences. Said preferences are not limited to ‘selfish’ preferences or non-shared values; they include anything one cares about.

Epistemic rationality is that part of rationality which involves achieving accurate beliefs about the world. It involves updating on receiving new evidence, mitigating cognitive biases, and examining why you believe what you believe. It can be seen as a form of instrumental rationality in which knowledge and truth are goals in themselves, whereas in other forms of instrumental rationality, knowledge and truth are only potential aids to achieving goals. Someone practicing instrumental rationality might even find falsehood useful.

Affect heuristic: When subjective emotions about something act as a mental shortcut.

Halo/horns effect (is an example of the affect heuristic)

Principle of charity: A technique in which you evaluate your opponent’s position as if it made the most amount of sense possible given the wording of the argument.

Steelmanning (rationality tool)

A straw man is a misrepresentation of someone’s position or argument that is easy to defeat: a “steel man” is an improvement of someone’s position or argument that is harder to defeat than their originally stated position or argument.

The strongest form of an argument that you disagree with.

This time, Katrina copied or at least drew language from Less Wrong and associated wiki.

]]>We spent the hour trying to answer a question posed to Eneasz regarding his work with the Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality Podcast. Here is the query (with pleasantries removed): Is there evidence that a rational approach to … Continue readi...We spent the hour trying to answer a question posed to Eneasz regarding his work with the Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality Podcast. Here is the query (with pleasantries removed): Is there evidence that a rational approach to … Continue reading →The Bayesian Conspiracyyes1:08:32